Search results for: discrete systems
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 4798

Search results for: discrete systems

628 A Real-time Computer Vision System for VehicleTracking and Collision Detection

Authors: Mustafa Kisa, Fatih Mehmet Botsali

Abstract:

Recent developments in automotive technology are focused on economy, comfort and safety. Vehicle tracking and collision detection systems are attracting attention of many investigators focused on safety of driving in the field of automotive mechatronics. In this paper, a vision-based vehicle detection system is presented. Developed system is intended to be used in collision detection and driver alert. The system uses RGB images captured by a camera in a car driven in the highway. Images captured by the moving camera are used to detect the moving vehicles in the image. A vehicle ahead of the camera is detected in daylight conditions. The proposed method detects moving vehicles by subtracting successive images. Plate height of the vehicle is determined by using a plate recognition algorithm. Distance of the moving object is calculated by using the plate height. After determination of the distance of the moving vehicle relative speed of the vehicle and Time-to-Collision are calculated by using distances measured in successive images. Results obtained in road tests are discussed in order to validate the use of the proposed method.

Keywords: Image possessing, vehicle tracking, license plate detection, computer vision.

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627 Robust Digital Cinema Watermarking

Authors: Sadi Vural, Hiromi Tomii, Hironori Yamauchi

Abstract:

With the advent of digital cinema and digital broadcasting, copyright protection of video data has been one of the most important issues. We present a novel method of watermarking for video image data based on the hardware and digital wavelet transform techniques and name it as “traceable watermarking" because the watermarked data is constructed before the transmission process and traced after it has been received by an authorized user. In our method, we embed the watermark to the lowest part of each image frame in decoded video by using a hardware LSI. Digital Cinema is an important application for traceable watermarking since digital cinema system makes use of watermarking technology during content encoding, encryption, transmission, decoding and all the intermediate process to be done in digital cinema systems. The watermark is embedded into the randomly selected movie frames using hash functions. Embedded watermark information can be extracted from the decoded video data. For that, there is no need to access original movie data. Our experimental results show that proposed traceable watermarking method for digital cinema system is much better than the convenient watermarking techniques in terms of robustness, image quality, speed, simplicity and robust structure.

Keywords: Decoder, Digital content, JPEG2000 Frame, System-On-Chip, traceable watermark, Hash Function, CRC-32.

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626 Optimal Controllers with Actuator Saturation for Nonlinear Structures

Authors: M. Mohebbi, K. Shakeri

Abstract:

Since the actuator capacity is limited, in the real application of active control systems under sever earthquakes it is conceivable that the actuators saturate, hence the actuator saturation should be considered as a constraint in design of optimal controllers. In this paper optimal design of active controllers for nonlinear structures by considering actuator saturation, has been studied. The proposed method for designing optimal controllers is based on defining an optimization problem which the objective has been to minimize the maximum displacement of structure when a limited capacity for actuator has been used. To this end a single degree of freedom (SDF) structure with a bilinear hysteretic behavior has been simulated under a white noise ground acceleration of different amplitudes. Active tendon control mechanism, comprised of prestressed tendons and an actuator, and extended nonlinear Newmark method based instantaneous optimal control algorithm have been used. To achieve the best results, the weights corresponding to displacement, velocity, acceleration and control force in the performance index have been optimized by the Distributed Genetic Algorithm (DGA). Results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in considering actuator saturation. Also based on the numerical simulations it can be concluded that the actuator capacity and the average value of required control force are two important factors in designing nonlinear controllers which consider the actuator saturation.

Keywords: Active control, Actuator Saturation, Distributedgeneticalgorithms, Nonlinear.

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625 Designing a Patient Monitoring System Using Cloud and Semantic Web Technologies

Authors: Chryssa Thermolia, Ekaterini S. Bei, Stelios Sotiriadis, Kostas Stravoskoufos, Euripides G.M. Petrakis

Abstract:

Moving into a new era of healthcare, new tools and devices are developed to extend and improve health services, such as remote patient monitoring and risk prevention. In this concept, Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing present great advantages by providing remote and efficient services, as well as cooperation between patients, clinicians, researchers and other health professionals. This paper focuses on patients suffering from bipolar disorder, a brain disorder that belongs to a group of conditions called affective disorders, which is characterized by great mood swings. We exploit the advantages of Semantic Web and Cloud Technologies to develop a patient monitoring system to support clinicians. Based on intelligently filtering of evidence-knowledge and individual-specific information we aim to provide treatment notifications and recommended function tests at appropriate times or concluding into alerts for serious mood changes and patient’s nonresponse to treatment. We propose an architecture as the back-end part of a cloud platform for IoT, intertwining intelligence devices with patients’ daily routine and clinicians’ support.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder, intelligent systems patient monitoring, semantic web technologies, IoT.

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624 Performance Evaluation of Hybrid Intelligent Controllers in Load Frequency Control of Multi Area Interconnected Power Systems

Authors: Surya Prakash, Sunil Kumar Sinha

Abstract:

This paper deals with the application of artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy based Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System(ANFIS) approach to Load Frequency Control (LFC) of multi unequal area hydro-thermal interconnected power system. The proposed ANFIS controller combines the advantages of fuzzy controller as well as quick response and adaptability nature of ANN. Area-1 and area-2 consists of thermal reheat power plant whereas area-3 and area-4 consists of hydro power plant with electric governor. Performance evaluation is carried out by using intelligent controller like ANFIS, ANN and Fuzzy controllers and conventional PI and PID control approaches. To enhance the performance of intelligent and conventional controller sliding surface is included. The performances of the controllers are simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK package. A comparison of ANFIS, ANN, Fuzzy, PI and PID based approaches shows the superiority of proposed ANFIS over ANN & fuzzy, PI and PID controller for 1% step load variation.

Keywords: Load Frequency Control (LFC), ANFIS, ANN & Fuzzy, PI, PID Controllers, Area Control Error (ACE), Tie-line, MATLAB / SIMULINK.

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623 Magnetic Fluid Based Squeeze Film in Rough Rotating Curved Porous Annular Plates: Deformation Effect

Authors: M. E. Shimpi, G. M. Deheri

Abstract:

This article aims to investigate the performance of a magnetic fluid based squeeze film between rotating transversely rough curved porous annular plates incorporating the effect of elastic deformation. The associated stochastically averaged Reynolds type equation is solved to obtain the pressure distribution leading to the calculation of the load carrying capacity. The results suggest that the transverse roughness of the bearing surfaces affects the performance adversely although the bearing systems register a relatively improved performance due to the magnetization. The deformation causes reduced the load carrying capacity while the curvature parameters tend to nominally increase the load carrying capacity. Besides, the adverse effect of porosity, deformation and standard deviation can be minimized to some extent by the positive effect of the magnetization and the curvature parameters in the case of negatively skewed roughness by suitably choosing the rotational inertia and the aspect ratio, which becomes significant when negative variance occurs.

Keywords: Annular plates curved rough surface, deformation, load carrying capacity, rotational inertia, magnetic fluid, squeeze film.

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622 Appraisal of Energy Efficiency of Urban Development Plans: The Fidelity Concept on Izmir-Balcova Case

Authors: Y. Duvarci, A. K. Kutluca

Abstract:

Design and land use are closely linked to the energy efficiency levels for an urban area. The current city planning practice does not involve an effective land useenergy evaluation in its 'blueprint' urban plans. The study proposed an appraisal method that can be embedded in GIS programs using five planning criteria as how far a planner can give away from the planning principles (criteria) for the most energy output s/he can obtain. The case of Balcova, a district in the Izmir Metropolitan area, is used conformingly for evaluating the proposed master plan and the geothermal energy (heating only) use for the concern district. If the land use design were proposed accordingly at-most energy efficiency (a 30% obtained), mainly increasing the density around the geothermal wells and also proposing more mixed use zones, we could have 17% distortion (infidelity to the main planning principles) from the original plan. The proposed method can be an effective tool for planners as simulation media, of which calculations can be made by GIS ready tools, to evaluate efficiency levels for different plan proposals, letting to know how much energy saving causes how much deviation from the other planning ideals. Lower energy uses can be possible for different land use proposals for various policy trials.

Keywords: Sustainable Urban Planning, Energy Efficiency, Geothermal Energy, District Heating Systems (DHS), EnergyPlanning

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621 DSLEP (Data Structure Learning Platform to Aid in Higher Education IT Courses)

Authors: Estevan B. Costa, Armando M. Toda, Marcell A. A. Mesquita, Jacques D. Brancher

Abstract:

The advances in technology in the last five years allowed an improvement in the educational area, as the increasing in the development of educational software. One of the techniques that emerged in this lapse is called Gamification, which is the utilization of video game mechanics outside its bounds. Recent studies involving this technique provided positive results in the application of these concepts in many areas as marketing, health and education. In the last area there are studies that covers from elementary to higher education, with many variations to adequate to the educators methodologies. Among higher education, focusing on IT courses, data structures are an important subject taught in many of these courses, as they are base for many systems. Based on the exposed this paper exposes the development of an interactive web learning environment, called DSLEP (Data Structure Learning Platform), to aid students in higher education IT courses. The system includes basic concepts seen on this subject such as stacks, queues, lists, arrays, trees and was implemented to ease the insertion of new structures. It was also implemented with gamification concepts, such as points, levels, and leader boards, to engage students in the search for knowledge and stimulate self-learning.

Keywords: Gamification, Interactive learning environment, Data structures, e-learning.

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620 Generating State-Based Testing Models for Object-Oriented Framework Interface Classes

Authors: Jehad Al Dallal, Paul Sorenson

Abstract:

An application framework provides a reusable design and implementation for a family of software systems. Application developers extend the framework to build their particular applications using hooks. Hooks are the places identified to show how to use and customize the framework. Hooks define the Framework Interface Classes (FICs) and the specifications of their methods. As part of the development life cycle, it is required to test the implementations of the FICs. Building a testing model to express the behavior of a class is an essential step for the generation of the class-based test cases. The testing model has to be consistent with the specifications provided for the hooks. State-based models consisting of states and transitions are testing models well suited to objectoriented software. Typically, hand-construction of a state-based model of a class behavior is expensive, error-prone, and may result in constructing an inconsistent model with the specifications of the class methods, which misleads verification results. In this paper, a technique is introduced to automatically synthesize a state-based testing model for FICs using the specifications provided for the hooks. A tool that supports the proposed technique is introduced.

Keywords: Framework interface classes, hooks, state-basedtesting, testing model.

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619 Decision Support System “Crop-9-DSS“ for Identified Crops

Authors: Ganesan V.

Abstract:

Application of Expert System in the area of agriculture would take the form of Integrated Crop Management decision aids and would encompass water management, fertilizer management, crop protection systems and identification of implements. In order to remain competitive, the modern farmer often relies on agricultural specialists and advisors to provide information for decision-making. An expert system normally composed of a knowledge base (information, heuristics, etc.), inference engine (analyzes knowledge base), and end user interface (accepting inputs, generating outputs). Software named 'CROP-9-DSS' incorporating all modern features like, graphics, photos, video clippings etc. has been developed. This package will aid as a decision support system for identification of pest and diseases with control measures, fertilizer recommendation system, water management system and identification of farm implements for leading crops of Kerala (India) namely Coconut, Rice, Cashew, Pepper, Banana, four vegetables like Amaranthus, Bhindi, Brinjal and Cucurbits. 'CROP-9-DSS' will act as an expert system to agricultural officers, scientists in the field of agriculture and extension workers for decision-making and help them in suggesting suitable recommendations.

Keywords: Diagnostic, inference engine, knowledge base and user interface.

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618 Proposals for the Thermal Regulation of Buildings in Algeria: An Energy Label for Social Housing

Authors: Marco Morini, Nicolandrea Calabrese, Dario Chello

Abstract:

Despite the international commitment of Algeria towards the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the country, the internal energy demand has been continuously growing during the last decade due to the substantial increase of population and of living conditions, which in turn has led to an unprecedented expansion of the residential building sector. The RTB (Thermal Building Regulation) is the technical document that establishes the calculation framework for the thermal performance of buildings in Algeria, setting up minimum obligatory targets for the thermal performance of new buildings. An update of this regulation is due in the coming years and this paper discusses some proposals in this regard, with the aim to improve the energy efficiency of the building sector, particularly with regard to social housing. In particular, it proposes a methodology for drafting an energy performance label of new Algerian residential buildings, moving from the results of the thermal compliance verification and sizing of technical systems as defined in the RTB. Such an energy performance label – whose calculation method is briefly described in the paper – aims to raise citizens' awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency. It can represent the first step in a process of integrating technical installations into the calculation of the energy performance of buildings in Algeria.

Keywords: building, energy certification, energy efficiency, social housing, international cooperation, Mediterranean Region

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617 Application of GIS-Based Construction Engineering: An Electronic Document Management System

Authors: Mansour N. Jadid

Abstract:

This paper describes the implementation of a GIS to provide decision support for successfully monitoring the movements and storage of materials, hence ensuring that finished products travel from the point of origin to the destination construction site through the supply-chain management (SCM) system. This system ensures the efficient operation of suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors by determining the shortest path from the point of origin to the final destination to reduce construction costs, minimize time, and enhance productivity. These systems are essential to the construction industry because they reduce costs and save time, thereby improve productivity and effectiveness. This study describes a typical supply-chain model and a geographical information system (GIS)-based SCM that focuses on implementing an electronic document management system, which maps the application framework to integrate geodetic support with the supply-chain system. This process provides guidance for locating the nearest suppliers to fill the information needs of project members in different locations. Moreover, this study illustrates the use of a GIS-based SCM as a collaborative tool in innovative methods for implementing Web mapping services, as well as aspects of their integration by generating an interactive GIS for the construction industry platform.

Keywords: Construction, coordinate, engineering, GIS, management, map.

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616 Advances in Artificial Intelligence Using Speech Recognition

Authors: Khaled M. Alhawiti

Abstract:

This research study aims to present a retrospective study about speech recognition systems and artificial intelligence. Speech recognition has become one of the widely used technologies, as it offers great opportunity to interact and communicate with automated machines. Precisely, it can be affirmed that speech recognition facilitates its users and helps them to perform their daily routine tasks, in a more convenient and effective manner. This research intends to present the illustration of recent technological advancements, which are associated with artificial intelligence. Recent researches have revealed the fact that speech recognition is found to be the utmost issue, which affects the decoding of speech. In order to overcome these issues, different statistical models were developed by the researchers. Some of the most prominent statistical models include acoustic model (AM), language model (LM), lexicon model, and hidden Markov models (HMM). The research will help in understanding all of these statistical models of speech recognition. Researchers have also formulated different decoding methods, which are being utilized for realistic decoding tasks and constrained artificial languages. These decoding methods include pattern recognition, acoustic phonetic, and artificial intelligence. It has been recognized that artificial intelligence is the most efficient and reliable methods, which are being used in speech recognition.

Keywords: Speech recognition, acoustic phonetic, artificial intelligence, Hidden Markov Models (HMM), statistical models of speech recognition, human machine performance.

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615 Importance of Standards in Engineering and Technology Education

Authors: Ahmed S. Khan, Amin Karim

Abstract:

During the past several decades, the economy of each nation has been significantly affected by globalization and technology. Government regulations and private sector standards affect a majority of world trade. Countries have been working together to establish international standards in almost every field. As a result, workers in all sectors need to have an understanding of standards. Engineering and technology students must not only possess an understanding of engineering standards and applicable government codes, but also learn to apply them in designing, developing, testing and servicing products, processes and systems. Accreditation Board for Engineering & Technology (ABET) criteria for engineering and technology education require students to learn and apply standards in their class projects. This paper is a follow-up of a 2006-2009 NSF initiative awarded to IEEE to help develop tutorials and case study modules for students and encourage standards education at college campuses. It presents the findings of a faculty/institution survey conducted through various U.S.-based listservs representing the major engineering and technology disciplines. The intent of the survey was to the gauge the status of use of standards and regulations in engineering and technology coursework and to identify benchmark practices. In light of survey findings, recommendations are made to standards development organizations, industry, and academia to help enhance the use of standards in engineering and technology curricula.

Keywords: Standards, regulations, ABET, IEEE, engineering and technology curricula.

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614 Assessing the Global Water Productivity of Some Irrigation Command Areas in Iran

Authors: A. Montazar

Abstract:

The great challenge of the agricultural sector is to produce more crop from less water, which can be achieved by increasing crop water productivity. The modernization of the irrigation systems offers a number of possibilities to expand the economic productivity of water and improve the virtual water status. The objective of the present study is to assess the global water productivity (GWP) within the major irrigation command areas of I.R. Iran. For this purpose, fourteen irrigation command areas where located in different areas of Iran were selected. In order to calculate the global water productivity of irrigation command areas, all data on the delivered water to cropping pattern, cultivated area, crops water requirement, and yield production rate during 2002-2006 were gathered. In each of the command areas it seems that the cultivated crops have a higher amount of virtual water and thus can be replaced by crops with less virtual water. This is merely suggested due to crop water consumption and at the time of replacing crops, economic value as well as cultural and political factors must be considered. The results indicated that the lowest GWP belongs to Mahyar and Borkhar irrigation areas, 0.24 kg m-3, and the highest is that of the Dez irrigation area, 0.81 kg m-3. The findings demonstrated that water management in the two irrigation areas is just efficient. The difference in the GWP of irrigation areas is due to variations in the cropping pattern, amount of crop productions, in addition to the effective factors in the water use efficiency in the irrigation areas.

Keywords: Iran, Irrigation command area, Water productivity, Virtual water.

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613 Forecasting 24-Hour Ahead Electricity Load Using Time Series Models

Authors: Ramin Vafadary, Maryam Khanbaghi

Abstract:

Forecasting electricity load is important for various purposes like planning, operation and control. Forecasts can save operating and maintenance costs, increase the reliability of power supply and delivery systems, and correct decisions for future development. This paper compares various time series methods to forecast 24 hours ahead of electricity load. The methods considered are the Holt-Winters smoothing, SARIMA Modeling, LSTM Network, Fbprophet and Tensorflow probability. The performance of each method is evaluated by using the forecasting accuracy criteria namely, the Mean Absolute Error and Root Mean Square Error. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) residential energy consumption data are used to train the models. The results of this study show that SARIMA model is superior to the others for 24 hours ahead forecasts. Furthermore, a Bagging technique is used to make the predictions more robust. The obtained results show that by Bagging multiple time-series forecasts we can improve the robustness of the models for 24 hour ahead electricity load forecasting.

Keywords: Bagging, Fbprophet, Holt-Winters, LSTM, Load Forecast, SARIMA, tensorflow probability, time series.

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612 Energy Efficiency Analysis of Discharge Modes of an Adiabatic Compressed Air Energy Storage System

Authors: Shane D. Inder, Mehrdad Khamooshi

Abstract:

Efficient energy storage is a crucial factor in facilitating the uptake of renewable energy resources. Among the many options available for energy storage systems required to balance imbalanced supply and demand cycles, compressed air energy storage (CAES) is a proven technology in grid-scale applications. This paper reviews the current state of micro scale CAES technology and describes a micro-scale advanced adiabatic CAES (A-CAES) system, where heat generated during compression is stored for use in the discharge phase. It will also describe a thermodynamic model, developed in EES (Engineering Equation Solver) to evaluate the performance and critical parameters of the discharge phase of the proposed system. Three configurations are explained including: single turbine without preheater, two turbines with preheaters, and three turbines with preheaters. It is shown that the micro-scale A-CAES is highly dependent upon key parameters including; regulator pressure, air pressure and volume, thermal energy storage temperature and flow rate and the number of turbines. It was found that a micro-scale AA-CAES, when optimized with an appropriate configuration, could deliver energy input to output efficiency of up to 70%.

Keywords: CAES, adiabatic compressed air energy storage, expansion phase, micro generation, thermodynamic.

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611 Analysis of the Long-term Effect of Office Lighting Environment on Human Reponses

Authors: D.Y. Su, C.C. Liu, C.M. Chiang, W. Wang

Abstract:

This study aims to discuss the effect of illumination and the color temperature of the lighting source under the office lighting environment on human psychological and physiological responses. In this study, 21 healthy participants were selected, and the Ryodoraku measurement system was utilized to measure their skin resistance change.The findings indicated that the effect of the color temperature of the lighting source on human physiological responses is significant within 90 min after turning the lights on; while after 90 min the effect of illumination on human physiological responses is higher than that of the color temperature. Moreover, the cardiovascular, digestive and endocrine systems are prone to be affected by the indoor lighting environment. During the long-term exposure to high intensity of illumination and high color temperature (2000Lux -6500K), the effect on the psychological responses turned moderate after the human visual system adopted to the lighting environment. However, the effect of the Ryodoraku value on human physiological responses was more significant with the increase of perceptive time. The effect of long time exposure to a lighting environment on the physiological responses is greater than its effect on the psychological responses. This conclusion is different from the traditional public viewpoint that the effect on the psychological responses is greater.

Keywords: Autonomic nervous system, Human responses, Office Lighting Environment, Ryodoraku, Meridian

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610 Robust & Energy Efficient Universal Gates for High Performance Computer Networks at 22nm Process Technology

Authors: M. Geetha Priya, K. Baskaran, S. Srinivasan

Abstract:

Digital systems are said to be constructed using basic logic gates. These gates are the NOR, NAND, AND, OR, EXOR & EXNOR gates. This paper presents a robust three transistors (3T) based NAND and NOR gates with precise output logic levels, yet maintaining equivalent performance than the existing logic structures. This new set of 3T logic gates are based on CMOS inverter and Pass Transistor Logic (PTL). The new universal logic gates are characterized by better speed and lower power dissipation which can be straightforwardly fabricated as memory ICs for high performance computer networks. The simulation tests were performed using standard BPTM 22nm process technology using SYNOPSYS HSPICE. The 3T NAND gate is evaluated using C17 benchmark circuit and 3T NOR is gate evaluated using a D-Latch. According to HSPICE simulation in 22 nm CMOS BPTM process technology under given conditions and at room temperature, the proposed 3T gates shows an improvement of 88% less power consumption on an average over conventional CMOS logic gates. The devices designed with 3T gates will make longer battery life by ensuring extremely low power consumption.

Keywords: Low power, CMOS, pass-transistor, flash memory, logic gates.

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609 A Watermarking Scheme for MP3 Audio Files

Authors: Dimitrios Koukopoulos, Yiannis Stamatiou

Abstract:

In this work, we present for the first time in our perception an efficient digital watermarking scheme for mpeg audio layer 3 files that operates directly in the compressed data domain, while manipulating the time and subband/channel domain. In addition, it does not need the original signal to detect the watermark. Our scheme was implemented taking special care for the efficient usage of the two limited resources of computer systems: time and space. It offers to the industrial user the capability of watermark embedding and detection in time immediately comparable to the real music time of the original audio file that depends on the mpeg compression, while the end user/audience does not face any artifacts or delays hearing the watermarked audio file. Furthermore, it overcomes the disadvantage of algorithms operating in the PCMData domain to be vulnerable to compression/recompression attacks, as it places the watermark in the scale factors domain and not in the digitized sound audio data. The strength of our scheme, that allows it to be used with success in both authentication and copyright protection, relies on the fact that it gives to the users the enhanced capability their ownership of the audio file not to be accomplished simply by detecting the bit pattern that comprises the watermark itself, but by showing that the legal owner knows a hard to compute property of the watermark.

Keywords: Audio watermarking, mpeg audio layer 3, hardinstance generation, NP-completeness.

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608 Stability of Fractional Differential Equation

Authors: Rabha W. Ibrahim

Abstract:

We study a Dirichlet boundary value problem for Lane-Emden equation involving two fractional orders. Lane-Emden equation has been widely used to describe a variety of phenomena in physics and astrophysics, including aspects of stellar structure, the thermal history of a spherical cloud of gas, isothermal gas spheres,and thermionic currents. However, ordinary Lane-Emden equation does not provide the correct description of the dynamics for systems in complex media. In order to overcome this problem and describe dynamical processes in a fractalmedium, numerous generalizations of Lane-Emden equation have been proposed. One such generalization replaces the ordinary derivative by a fractional derivative in the Lane-Emden equation. This gives rise to the fractional Lane-Emden equation with a single index. Recently, a new type of Lane-Emden equation with two different fractional orders has been introduced which provides a more flexible model for fractal processes as compared with the usual one characterized by a single index. The contraction mapping principle and Krasnoselskiis fixed point theorem are applied to prove the existence of solutions of the problem in a Banach space. Ulam-Hyers stability for iterative Cauchy fractional differential equation is defined and studied.

Keywords: Fractional calculus, fractional differential equation, Lane-Emden equation, Riemann-Liouville fractional operators, Volterra integral equation.

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607 Enhancements in Blended e-Learning Management System

Authors: Ibrahim S AlNomay, Alaa Jaber, Ghada AlNasser

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A learning management system (commonly abbreviated as LMS) is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content (Ellis 2009). (Hall 2003) defines an LMS as \"software that automates the administration of training events. All Learning Management Systems manage the log-in of registered users, manage course catalogs, record data from learners, and provide reports to management\". Evidence of the worldwide spread of e-learning in recent years is easy to obtain. In April 2003, no fewer than 66,000 fully online courses and 1,200 complete online programs were listed on the TeleCampus portal from TeleEducation (Paulsen 2003). In the report \" The US market in the Self-paced eLearning Products and Services:2010-2015 Forecast and Analysis\" The number of student taken classes exclusively online will be nearly equal (1% less) to the number taken classes exclusively in physical campuses. Number of student taken online course will increase from 1.37 million in 2010 to 3.86 million in 2015 in USA. In another report by The Sloan Consortium three-quarters of institutions report that the economic downturn has increased demand for online courses and programs.

Keywords: LMS, Interactive Materials, Exam Centers, Learning Outcomes

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606 CVOIP-FRU: Comprehensive VoIP Forensics Report Utility

Authors: Alejandro Villegas, Cihan Varol

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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products is an emerging technology that can contain forensically important information for a criminal activity. Without having the user name and passwords, this forensically important information can still be gathered by the investigators. Although there are a few VoIP forensic investigative applications available in the literature, most of them are particularly designed to collect evidence from the Skype product. Therefore, in order to assist law enforcement with collecting forensically important information from variety of Betamax VoIP tools, CVOIP-FRU framework is developed. CVOIP-FRU provides a data gathering solution that retrieves usernames, contact lists, as well as call and SMS logs from Betamax VoIP products. It is a scripting utility that searches for data within the registry, logs and the user roaming profiles in Windows and Mac OSX operating systems. Subsequently, it parses the output into readable text and html formats. One superior way of CVOIP-FRU compared to the other applications that due to intelligent data filtering capabilities and cross platform scripting back end of CVOIP-FRU, it is expandable to include other VoIP solutions as well. Overall, this paper reveals the exploratory analysis performed in order to find the key data paths and locations, the development stages of the framework, and the empirical testing and quality assurance of CVOIP-FRU.

Keywords: Betamax, digital forensics, report utility, VoIP, VoIP Buster, VoIPWise.

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605 Software Maintenance Severity Prediction for Object Oriented Systems

Authors: Parvinder S. Sandhu, Roma Jaswal, Sandeep Khimta, Shailendra Singh

Abstract:

As the majority of faults are found in a few of its modules so there is a need to investigate the modules that are affected severely as compared to other modules and proper maintenance need to be done in time especially for the critical applications. As, Neural networks, which have been already applied in software engineering applications to build reliability growth models predict the gross change or reusability metrics. Neural networks are non-linear sophisticated modeling techniques that are able to model complex functions. Neural network techniques are used when exact nature of input and outputs is not known. A key feature is that they learn the relationship between input and output through training. In this present work, various Neural Network Based techniques are explored and comparative analysis is performed for the prediction of level of need of maintenance by predicting level severity of faults present in NASA-s public domain defect dataset. The comparison of different algorithms is made on the basis of Mean Absolute Error, Root Mean Square Error and Accuracy Values. It is concluded that Generalized Regression Networks is the best algorithm for classification of the software components into different level of severity of impact of the faults. The algorithm can be used to develop model that can be used for identifying modules that are heavily affected by the faults.

Keywords: Neural Network, Software faults, Software Metric.

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604 Lane Changing and Merging Maneuvers of Carlike Robots

Authors: Bibhya Sharma, Jito Vanualailai, Ravindra Rai

Abstract:

This research paper designs a unique motion planner of multiple platoons of nonholonomic car-like robots as a feasible solution to the lane changing/merging maneuvers. The decentralized planner with a leaderless approach and a path-guidance principle derived from the Lyapunov-based control scheme generates collision free avoidance and safe merging maneuvers from multiple lanes to a single lane by deploying a split/merge strategy. The fixed obstacles are the markings and boundaries of the road lanes, while the moving obstacles are the robots themselves. Real and virtual road lane markings and the boundaries of road lanes are incorporated into a workspace to achieve the desired formation and configuration of the robots. Convergence of the robots to goal configurations and the repulsion of the robots from specified obstacles are achieved by suitable attractive and repulsive potential field functions, respectively. The results can be viewed as a significant contribution to the avoidance algorithm of the intelligent vehicle systems (IVS). Computer simulations highlight the effectiveness of the split/merge strategy and the acceleration-based controllers.

Keywords: Lane merging, Lyapunov-based control scheme, path-guidance principle, split/merge strategy.

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603 Applications of Mobile Aluminum Light Structure Housing System in Sustainable Building Process

Authors: Haining Wang, Hong Zhang

Abstract:

Problems exist in the present construction industry in China. Conflicts hinder the development of the whole society, such as contradictions between resource reservation and a huge population, living space needs and low building production efficiency, as well as environment protection and high pollution production pattern. In order to solve the problems and find a solution, research is needed to explore a building system. By investigating the whole architectural process and contrasting analysis of light structures and heavy structures, the paper raised the concepts to cope with the existing challenges, such as design conception based on product and real construction processes, design methods focusing on components, and maximum utilization of the temporary building by optimizing the construction speed and building performance. The project was not only designed in virtual reality, but was also physically constructed in the real world. A series of aluminum light structure housing systems were dictated at last, with the characteristics of high performance, extremely rapid construction speed and also flexible function. It can be used in lots of aspects ranging from a single building in a remote area to a large residential community.

Keywords: Aluminum house, light structure, rapid assembly, repeat construction.

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602 Maternal Health Outcome and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Dynamic Panel Analysis

Authors: Okwan Frank

Abstract:

Maternal health outcome is one of the major population development challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. The region has the highest maternal mortality ratio, despite the progressive economic growth in the region during the global economic crisis. It has been hypothesized that increase in economic growth will reduce the level of maternal mortality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of the negative relationship between health outcome proxy by maternal mortality ratio and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study used the Pooled Mean Group estimator of ARDL Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and the Kao test for cointegration to examine the short-run and long-run relationship between maternal mortality and economic growth. The results of the cointegration test showed the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables considered for the study. The long-run result of the Pooled Mean group estimates confirmed the hypothesis of an inverse relationship between maternal health outcome proxy by maternal mortality ratio and economic growth proxy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Thus increasing economic growth by investing in the health care systems to reduce pregnancy and childbirth complications will help reduce maternal mortality in the sub-region.

Keywords: Economic growth, maternal mortality, pool mean group, Sub-Saharan Africa.

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601 Production of Energetic Nanomaterials by Spray Flash Evaporation

Authors: Martin Klaumünzer, Jakob Hübner, Denis Spitzer

Abstract:

Within this paper, latest results on processing of energetic nanomaterials by means of the Spray Flash Evaporation technique are presented. This technology constitutes a highly effective and continuous way to prepare fascinating materials on the nano- and micro-scale. Within the process, a solution is set under high pressure and sprayed into an evacuated atomization chamber. Subsequent ultrafast evaporation of the solvent leads to an aerosol stream, which is separated by cyclones or filters. No drying gas is required, so the present technique should not be confused with spray dying. Resulting nanothermites, insensitive explosives or propellants and compositions are foreseen to replace toxic (according to REACH) and very sensitive matter in military and civil applications. Diverse examples are given in detail: nano-RDX (n-Cyclotrimethylentrinitramin) and nano-aluminum based systems, mixtures (n-RDX/n-TNT - trinitrotoluene) or even cocrystalline matter like n-CL-20/HMX (Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane/ Cyclotetra-methylentetranitramin). These nanomaterials show reduced sensitivity by trend without losing effectiveness and performance. An analytical study for material characterization was performed by using Atomic Force Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, and combined techniques as well as spectroscopic methods. As a matter of course, sensitivity tests regarding electrostatic discharge, impact, and friction are provided.

Keywords: Continuous synthesis, energetic material, nanoscale, nanothermite, nanoexplosive.

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600 Aircraft Automatic Collision Avoidance Using Spiral Geometric Approach

Authors: M. Orefice, V. Di Vito

Abstract:

This paper provides a description of a Collision Avoidance algorithm that has been developed starting from the mathematical modeling of the flight of insects, in terms of spirals and conchospirals geometric paths. It is able to calculate a proper avoidance manoeuver aimed to prevent the infringement of a predefined distance threshold between ownship and the considered intruder, while minimizing the ownship trajectory deviation from the original path and in compliance with the aircraft performance limitations and dynamic constraints. The algorithm is designed in order to be suitable for real-time applications, so that it can be considered for the implementation in the most recent airborne automatic collision avoidance systems using the traffic data received through an ADS-B IN device. The presented approach is able to take into account the rules-of-the-air, due to the possibility to select, through specifically designed decision making logic based on the consideration of the encounter geometry, the direction of the calculated collision avoidance manoeuver that allows complying with the rules-of-the-air, as for instance the fundamental right of way rule. In the paper, the proposed collision avoidance algorithm is presented and its preliminary design and software implementation is described. The applicability of this method has been proved through preliminary simulation tests performed in a 2D environment considering single intruder encounter geometries, as reported and discussed in the paper.

Keywords: collision avoidance, RPAS, spiral geometry, ADS-B based application

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599 Social Network Based Decision Support System for Smart U-Parking Planning

Authors: Jun-Ho Park, Kwang-Woo Nam, Seung-Mo Hong, Tae-Heon Moon, Sang-Ho Lee, Youn-Taik Leem

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to build ‘Ubi-Net’, a decision-making support system for systematic establishment in U-City planning. We have experienced various urban problems caused by high-density development and population concentrations in established urban areas. To address these problems, a U-Service contributes to the alleviation of urban problems by providing real-time information to citizens through network connections and related information. However, technology, devices, and information for consumers are required for systematic U-Service planning in towns and cities where there are many difficulties in this regard, and a lack of reference systems. Thus, this study suggests methods to support the establishment of sustainable planning by providing comprehensive information including IT technology, devices, news, and social networking services (SNS) to U-City planners through intelligent searches. In this study, we targeted Smart U-Parking Planning to solve parking problems in an ‘old’ city. Through this study, we sought to contribute to supporting advances in U-Space and the alleviation of urban problems.

Keywords: Design and decision support system, smart U-parking planning, social network analysis.

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